


Break and Bend

by alessandralee



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: College, F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 19:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4799363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alessandralee/pseuds/alessandralee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Thanksgiving break and Riley and Farkle bond over their struggles with adjusting to college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Break and Bend

Coming home for Thanksgiving break is weird for Riley.

She wakes up expecting to be in her cramped dorm room, with just enough time to change her clothes and grab a granola bar before racing out the door for her 8AM class.

Instead, she lets herself sleep in until nine, then eats the biggest breakfast her stomach can hold, and starts on some of the schoolwork she needs to finish for class on Monday. Her body could use more sleep, but she’s worried about letting herself get into the habit of sleeping in.

She has a month off at the end of the semester. She’ll catch up on sleep then. Assuming she makes it to December without completely losing it.

There’s an email waiting in her inbox from Maya. She’s studying in London, which means she doesn’t get to come home for Thanksgiving. She has, however, finally sent that long, detailed letter that she promised.

Reading it will be Riley’s reward for slogging through the two chapters she has to read for her English Poets class.

The readings are a bit harder to get through without the help of her usual study group, but Riley manages. Her notes are thorough, if a little messy, but she gave up on recopying them the second week of classes. 

She’s got a little time to kill, and she’s definitely earned her break.

Zay’s spending Thanksgiving in Austin, so she won’t see him until he gets back Friday. She’s still got a few hours until Farkle’s train gets in, and Lucas won’t be home until after dinner, so maybe she’ll be able to start working on her assignment for Evolutionary Biology of Women’s Reproductive Lives later.

But first, Maya’s email.

It’s a whirlwind of classes (nude models), coffee shops, bars (since Maya can legally drink in the UK), clubs, weekend trips, and sightseeing. Her descriptions of London are almost paintings in and of themselves.

Riley can feel her desire to be there with her best friend, experiencing the world outside of Yale’s campus, like a dull ache in her chest.

The only times Riley has set foot off campus were for pledging activities, and to catch her bus home.

She hasn’t had time to relax since classes started, much less to get out and explore.

Riley closes the email without responding. She’ll write back when she knows her email won’t just sound depressing.

She’s reviewing anatomical diagrams when someone knocks on her door.

“Farkle,” she shrieks, jumping off her bed to envelop him in a giant hug. “You’ve come to save me from science.”

When she finally lets go of him, she steps back to take a good look.

He’s almost exactly the same as she remembers him. Maybe he’s a little less skinny, but his hair, his clothes, his smile, they’re all the same.

Thank god.

“It’s so good to see you,” he tells her. “You have no idea.”

It’s exactly what Riley needs to hear at that moment; she’s still a little off balance after Maya’s earlier email.

“You too,” she responds enthusiastically, practically pulling him to the bay window. “Tell me everything about MIT.”

“Classes are good,” he tells her, but he’s lacking his characteristic enthusiasm for all things academic. “I’ve got a few friends, but they’re not like you guys.”

If anything, he sounds even less excited about that. It makes Riley feel appreciated, but it also makes her worry.

“How so?” she asks.

“They’re so competitive,” Farkle sighs. “It’s like Einstein Academy on steroids. Even when we do group projects, they only care about what they’re getting credit for, not the big picture. I swear they’d completely screw each other over if it would make them look better individually.”

That sounds awful. Riley’s classes certainly haven’t been easy, but there’s always been someone willing to help her out, whether she needs something explained again, or someone to edit her papers. The girls at the sorority she’s pledging have been particularly great.

She can’t imagine what her GPA would look like without them.

“Has anyone done anything to you?” she asks.

Farkle shakes his head, “No one’s been helpful, but since I mostly keep my head down and just do my work, I don’t think anyone sees me as a threat.”

Keeping his head down and just doing his work? That sounds like the most un-Farkle thing she’s ever heard.

Riley’s not even sure what to say in response. Part of her wants to march up to Cambridge and give them all a piece of her mind.

That’s not exactly practical, though.

Luckily, Farkle doesn’t let the conversation falter.

“I’m thinking of changing my major,” he tells her.

“Really?”

“Well technically it’s not really changing it,” he explains. “We’re all undecided for the first year. But I had planned out everything I needed for Political Science. Now I’m thinking of switching to one of the hard sciences. Not sure which one yet.”

“No more world domination?” Riley teases.

“There are way too many awful people in politics,” he says. Riley’s heard a similar sentiment from her Uncle Eric. “It’s not worth making the compromises necessary to deal with them. I think I can do more good as a scientist.”

“Cure cancer?” Riley suggests.

“Maybe,” Farkle smiles. “Or another disease. Or I’ll make Mars inhabitable, or discover a new fuel source, or… the possibilities are endless.”

Now that sounds much more like the Farkle she knows.

“What about you?” he asks. “How are you doing?”

“Busy,” she replies. It’s the word that sums up the last three months of her life. “Classes are hard, but a lot of them are really interesting. I’m considering a Women’s Studies minor. Pledging is a lot of fun; the girls’ are so nice. I’ve got a part time job on campus that isn’t too bad. And I’m even doing grunt-work for the school paper. Everything’s so exciting, but really time consuming.”

Farkle nods, “You do look a little tired.”

She knew the bags under her eyes weren’t just her imagination.

“One of my professors says I’d be a good candidate for a summer internship with the New York Times,” Riley says. “I’m thinking of applying, but I’m also thinking of blowing it off and spending the whole summer with Maya.”

She’d been planning on a two week trip to London, with they guys saying they might come out for one. That was the whole point of getting a job. But lately she’s been dreaming a little bigger.

After all, she’ll only be young once.

“You know, they probably have internships in London,” Farkle suggests. “Some of them are probably even paid. Not enough for a plane ticket and a place to live, but enough to help if you already have the money.”

It’s something to consider. What Riley really wants is a break. But if she’s not in class or at the paper or doing sorority stuff, maybe an internship will feel relaxing.

“What would I do without you?” Riley wraps an arm around Farkle and leans her head on his shoulder.

“Struggle slightly harder for slightly longer, but ultimately manage just fine,” he says sincerely.

“Maybe in this case,” Riley says, “but not overall.”

Farkle is a huge part of her life, even though they don’t see each other as much as she wishes they could. Without him, she’d be a completely different person.

She hopes he knows that.

Stretching her arms, Riley gets up to clean off her all the school stuff strewn across her bed.

“You think we have time to grab dinner before Lucas gets home?” she asks. She wants to take full advantage of one-on-one time with Farkle.

“Pizza?” he suggests.

“My treat,” Riley says. She’s working her ass off to save off for this summer. It can’t hurt to spend a little on enjoying herself in the meantime.


End file.
